Nigeria has robust investment climate under Tinubu- Group

Mr Niyi Akinsiju, Chairman, IMPI, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
Akinsiju said that there were verifiable data to show that Nigeria’s economy remained resilient, attractive to investors and highly profitable.

He added that the policy think tank came to this conclusion after a comparative analysis of Nigeria and some other jurisdictions, including India and the UK.

“Compared to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria’s announcement of 767 companies shut down in 2023.
“An apparent public revelation to serve as a depression trigger for the country, people and government.

“The Small Business advocacy group in the United Kingdom frames the 345,000 business closures in that country as more businesses closing down than starting up for the first time in 12 years.

“This, by our consideration, is an objective rendition of data,” he said.

He added that it was obvious that the 767 companies shutting down in Nigeria do not in any way come close to the 345,000 closures recorded in the UK in the same period.

Akinsiju said that neither could the number be compared with the 460,000 companies that shut down every quarter, that was every three months, in China or the 10,655 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) shut down in 2022-2023 in India.

He said as routinely rendered, the Indian data showed that there were over 11,000 new firms started for every one of the 175 shutdowns in 2022.

“Against this background, we require, for instance that while so much dust was raised over the exit of giant drug makers like GSK Plc and Sanofi, among others.

“The data should have also included statistics circulated by the National Agency for Food & Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

“Which indicated that 105 applications for the construction of drug manufacturing facilities have been approved across the country and that 35 per cent of the approved applications have completed construction,” he said.

Akinsiju added that this was inclusive of the fact that over 20 newly registered local drug manufacturers had cumulatively invested over 2 billion dollars in the erection and completion of WHO-compliant facilities.

He said the facilities were expected to manufacture quality pharmaceuticals and essential medicines for Nigerians.

He said that advocacy groups that were always quick to dig up negative narratives, preferred to ignore the many positives in Nigeria’s economy in spite of global headwinds.

“Another jurisdictional contrast will suffice to prove this. While profits at China’s industrial firms fell 2.3 per cent in 2023, their second straight yearly decline.

“Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistic data show that Company Income Tax (CIT) rose by 73 per cent year-on-year from N2.82 trillion in the 2022 financial year to N4.89 trillion in the 2023 financial year.

“This huge profit difference is recorded despite headwinds that had continued to buffet the economic space.

“The indication deriving from this is that whatever may be the challenges inherent in the Nigerian economic space, the country avails investors the best possible opportunities for returns on investment,” he said.

Akinsiju added that this was the kind of economic accomplishment that corporate advocacy groups and politicians should celebrate.

He said that there were many positive stories from the Nigerian economy to show that the country was on track and urged the opposition to resist the temptation to demarket the country.(https://newsatlarge.ng)